Meghan Trainor is the queen of empowering self-love anthems, from “All About That Bass” and “Me Too” to “Made You Look” and “Crushin'” (featuring Lawrence).
But who does Trainor listen to when she’s having a bad mental health day?
“Kim Petras!” the Grammy winner tells PEOPLE, revealing that the “Unholy” singer’s 2022 Slut Pop EP is a go-to pick-me-up.
“That’s the only thing. I’m like, ‘This is it. This is going to get me going,'” Trainor adds of Petras’ racy record.
Trainor has been open about her struggle with panic disorder, which she has treated for years with antidepressants and therapy. In addition to those tools and music, the “Criminals” singer — who will drop a 10th-anniversary rerelease of her debut album Title on March 28 — also manages her mental health through fitness.
“It really helps my mental health when I’m working out and exercising and taking care of me,” Trainor — who just teamed up with e.l.f. Cosmetics for a product bundle — says. “I work on getting more sleep. I notice if I don’t get sleep, I’m angry. You know when you get hangry? I get sleep angry. Slangry.”
And Trainor’s husband, Spy Kids actor Daryl Sabara, 32, is also a source of comfort through hard times.
“He is my rock,” Trainor says of Sabara, with whom she shares sons Riley, who turns 4 in February, and Barry, 18 months. “We just communicate so well. He is my therapist and my best friend and my everything.”
Trainor and Petras have actually collaborated: In 2023, the released a remix of Trainor’s hit “Made You Look” featuring a new verse from Petras, 32.
“She was like, ‘I want to sing.’ I was like, ‘Okay, girl, we’re going to sing then.’ Her range is insane. I will never be able to have a range like hers. It’s crazy. It was a dream,” Trainor told PEOPLE at the time. “And she’s so lovely, so nice and is a geek about the songwriting world, just like me, so we bonded over that. I’m just so proud of her and so honored to be like, ‘Cool, hang out with me.'”
When Petras released Slut Pop in 2022, it became a cult hit among her LGBTQ+ fans — but its risqué lyrics stirred some controversy, too.
“I want people to find it offensive and struggle with it because I feel like, especially being trans, I’ve always been someone who offends people just because I’m trans. So I’ve gotten around to the fun side of that, testing people’s limits and seeing what reaction I can get out of people,” Petras told PEOPLE in 2022 of the sex-positive project.
At the time, Petras added: “[Given] the nature of sex work in the trans community, I wanted to empower people to be the freaks that they are and make it normal. I am very lucky that I have parents that supported my transition. If I didn’t, I would’ve probably ended up in sex work to afford my transition, which is what happens to most or a lot of transgender people. And I wanted to take the shame out of it … I think a lot of people don’t take it seriously when girls, and trans girls, have fun with the sexuality. But I take it seriously. I think it’s an art to make fun, sexy music as a woman and I think it’s empowering.”
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